Maintaining of config file

Eureka_sg has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I have a web based interface used to access resources from the web server. I am using a config. file to store certain parameters such as target IP.The config. file is something like this:

212.232.434
21323
434.434.545
[download]

The parameters will be read from and used in another web page. However, writing of the file from web causes its access to change to 644(from original 666), and so subsequent writing of the file is no longer permitted.

Is there any way around this problem? I can't use chmod since the web user is anonymous.

Thanks

Comment on Maintaining of config file Download Code

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Re: Maintaining of config file by unixwzrd (Beadle) on Feb 27, 2001 at 08:47 UTC
Your web server is probably starting up with a umask of 022. The simplest solution is to set the correct umask in the web server startup script if you have access to it. This may have other security implications at your site, so be careful. Update: I did say something about using "chmod" in your script, but you say it doesn't work. That doesn't make sense. If you can create the file, you should be able to change the permissions on it since you own it. Mike - mps@discomsys.com "The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen... and stupidity." Harlan Ellison	[reply]
Re: Maintaining of config file by dws (Chancellor) on Feb 27, 2001 at 10:12 UTC
Are you sure you can't use `chmod()`? Who ends up owning the files that your CGI writes? If it's the anonymous user, then you certainly can use `chmod()`. Several of my CGIs do.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Re: Maintaining of config file by Caillte (Friar) on Feb 27, 2001 at 16:37 UTC
If changing permissions from 666 to 644 stops the script from writing to the file a second time then it has been created with the wrong user name. This can give you all sorts of implementation headaches down the line, as you are starting to see now. The normal user, for apache, is user nobody. I would suggest you use that user id to create all CGI record files that are to be written to or, a more robust idea, do not create these files at all. Instead allow the script to create the files it writes to if they go missing. This allows for fun things like files wandering off (it can happen) and makes your script more portable. `$japh->{'Caillte'} = $me;`	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Maintaining of config file by wardk (Deacon) on Feb 27, 2001 at 19:27 UTC
If the file is "permanent" and you own it, change ownership (chown) of this file to the web user...("nobody", "netscape"), then as owner, the web user should have no problems. I would also have yourself added to the group the webuser resides in so that you can manipulate the file if need be.	[reply]